This afternoon I was lucky enough to score an invite to a screening of James Franco’s Saturday Night Live documentary Saturday Night. I am particularly passionate about both James Franco and Saturday Night Live and probably would have enjoyed the film regardless of how well it was made, but it was hilariously funny, informative, and a surprisingly fresh take on the much-covered behind-the-scenes action at Saturday Night Live.
The film took you through an entire week’s process and focused on John Malkovich’s turn hosting last season. From the pitch meeting to show night, you get to see all the action. At times these scenes go on a bit long (like, did we really need to check in on the Italian talk show sketch four times and for five minutes each time?), but generally everything is so interesting to watch that it’s hard to hate on that. One interesting undertone? Former cast member Casey Wilson’s clear struggle to fit in and keep up with the rest of the cast. Between an awkward Liza Minnelli impression during the table read to a confessional-style on-the-fly interview about how bombing in front of her cast members is humiliating, it’s extra insight to why she was canned at the end of last season.
I’m not sure what the availability of the documentary will be, but if you have a chance to see it, DO IT! If you’re an SNL die-hard, a fan of comedy, documentaries, writing, Saturdays, whatever: you will find something in this movie for you. And no, they didn’t pay me to say that.
Ooh, it’s awesome that it’s based around the John Malkovich episode… no jokes, he is seriously on my list of celebrities I want to bang.
If it ends up more interesting than SNL, itself, it won’t be saying much.